Hong Kong, September 25, 2015 -- Moody's Investors Service has placed the B1 corporate family rating
of P.T. MNC Sky Vision (MNC Sky) under review for downgrade.
The company is 69.46% owned by PT Global Mediacom Tbk (unrated),
a diversified media company, and which is in turn 52.84%
owned by P.T. MNC Investama Tbk. (BHIT, B1
review for downgrade).
BHIT directly owns an additional 9.6% share in MNC Sky.
Global Mediacom and MNC Investama are publicly listed in Indonesia.
RATINGS RATIONALE
"The rating action primarily reflects the increasing level of refinancing
risk associated with MNC Sky's USD243 million bank loan which matures
in November 2016 and the rise in leverage due to its significant foreign-currency
exposure against backdrop of the rupiah's weakness against the USD
and its weakening operating performance," says Annalisa Di
Chiara, a Moody's Vice President and Senior Analyst.
Because all of MNC Sky's debt is denominated in USD, its interest
costs and leverage have both risen as a result of the rupiah's depreciation.
Its EBITDA margin has also deteriorated, given that all of its revenues
are in rupiah, while a significant portion of its programming costs
are in USD.
Moody's expects its adjusted EBITDA margin to decline to 35%
or below for all of 2015, if the rupiah remains weak or weakens
further.
Moody's also notes limited covenant headroom under the leverage
ratio for the company's USD bank loan.
"In addition, MNC Sky's fundamental operating performance
has weakened due to softness in Indonesia's economic growth,
coupled with intensifying competition in the pay-TV market,
as evidenced by the company's slowing revenue growth and deteriorating
EBITDA margin," adds Di Chiara.
MNC Sky's subscriber numbers declined for the first time to 2.498
million at end-June from 2.529 million at end-2014,
while its average rate per user (ARPU) also continued to fall.
Moody's expects rising competition and piracy issues in the Indonesian
pay-TV market to continue to temper MNC Sky's subscriber
and ARPU growth over the near to medium term.
Moreover, its market position -- before the largest in Indonesia
with a 75% share, based on subscribers -- although strong
will face some headwinds as competition remains intense over the medium
to long term.
As a result of all these factors and because the company needs to continue
to borrow to fund its operations, Moody's forecasts leverage
-- as measured by adjusted debt/EBITDA -- to rise above
3x over the next six months.
At the same time, EBITDA growth will remain muted, given rising
programing costs as well as the increasing level of competition.
In June, the company announced a share buyback program of up to
5% of its paid-up capital or a maximum of IDR636 billion.
Given our expectations for negative free cash flow, we expect leverage
will increase further to above 4x if the company proceeds with share buybacks,
which will have to be funded by debt.
The review for downgrade will focus on the company's refinancing
plans for its USD243 million bank loan, its ability to remain compliant
with its bank covenants, and its plans to fund ongoing operations.
The review will also assess the management's financial policy with
regard to its shareholder return initiatives.
The principal methodology used in this rating was Global Pay Television
- Cable and Direct-to-Home Satellite Operators published
in April 2013. Please see the Credit Policy page on www.moodys.com
for a copy of this methodology.
Headquartered in Jakarta, P.T. MNC Sky Vision is a
provider of direct-to-home pay-TV services.
The company is 69.46% owned by PT Global Mediacom Tbk (unrated),
a diversified media company, and which is in turn 52.84%
owned by P.T. MNC Investama Tbk. (B1 review for downgrade).
Global Mediacom and MNC Investama are publicly listed in Indonesia.
REGULATORY DISCLOSURES
For ratings issued on a program, series or category/class of debt,
this announcement provides certain regulatory disclosures in relation
to each rating of a subsequently issued bond or note of the same series
or category/class of debt or pursuant to a program for which the ratings
are derived exclusively from existing ratings in accordance with Moody's
rating practices. For ratings issued on a support provider,
this announcement provides certain regulatory disclosures in relation
to the rating action on the support provider and in relation to each particular
rating action for securities that derive their credit ratings from the
support provider's credit rating. For provisional ratings,
this announcement provides certain regulatory disclosures in relation
to the provisional rating assigned, and in relation to a definitive
rating that may be assigned subsequent to the final issuance of the debt,
in each case where the transaction structure and terms have not changed
prior to the assignment of the definitive rating in a manner that would
have affected the rating. For further information please see the
ratings tab on the issuer/entity page for the respective issuer on www.moodys.com.
For any affected securities or rated entities receiving direct credit
support from the primary entity(ies) of this rating action, and
whose ratings may change as a result of this rating action, the
associated regulatory disclosures will be those of the guarantor entity.
Exceptions to this approach exist for the following disclosures,
if applicable to jurisdiction: Ancillary Services, Disclosure
to rated entity, Disclosure from rated entity.
Regulatory disclosures contained in this press release apply to the credit
rating and, if applicable, the related rating outlook or rating
review.
Please see www.moodys.com for any updates on changes to
the lead rating analyst and to the Moody's legal entity that has issued
the rating.
Please see the ratings tab on the issuer/entity page on www.moodys.com
for additional regulatory disclosures for each credit rating.
The first name below is the lead rating analyst for this Credit Rating
and the last name below is the person primarily responsible for approving
this Credit Rating.
Annalisa Di Chiara
Vice President - Senior Analyst
Corporate Finance Group
Moody's Investors Service Hong Kong Ltd.
24/F One Pacific Place
88 Queensway
Hong Kong
China (Hong Kong S.A.R.)
JOURNALISTS: (852) 3758 -1350
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Laura Acres
MD - Corporate Finance
Corporate Finance Group
JOURNALISTS: (852) 3758 -1350
SUBSCRIBERS: (852) 3551-3077
Releasing Office:
Moody's Investors Service Hong Kong Ltd.
24/F One Pacific Place
88 Queensway
Hong Kong
China (Hong Kong S.A.R.)
JOURNALISTS: (852) 3758 -1350
SUBSCRIBERS: (852) 3551-3077
Moody's reviews MNC Sky Vision's B1 rating for downgrade